Editorial Features

An Article by Pack and Go

As an office professional, your time is precious and you have enough stress and strain in your day to day jobs without adding to it through a house move. Moving house can be a trying experience but with a little forward planning, it doesn’t have to be – our advertising partner 'Pack and Go!' has some timely tips. ...........

Don’t Understimate the Young

An Article by Dr Lynda Shaw

The younger generation need to be encouraged to stay in the UK before they seek work elsewhere around the world, urges Psychologist and Age Specialist, Dr Lynda Shaw. Western birth rates are declining, the global birth rate has dropped from 22/1000 of the population in 2000 to 19.14/1000 last year and the world is “shrinking” becoming increasingly easy to travel and more westernised...........

Getting the best out of outsourcing at your company

An article from Moorepay - providers of cloud based HR and Payroll Solutions

Outsourcing has grown in popularity in rapid fashion over the past few years, as the process effectively enables businesses to seek out the assistance of an exterior source to monitor and handle a raft of vital tasks...........

Ageing in the Workplace

A survey by Dr Lynda Shaw

Ageing raises tough questions - With the pros and cons of an ageing population, retirement and people working longer regularly and fiercely debated in the media and political arenas, cognitive neuroscientist and age diversity specialist, Dr Lynda Shaw, conducted detailed research to find out more about people’s attitudes to ageing in the workplace..........

Solid Event Management Skills are a must for any PA

Claire Derrick, Director of Education at Ashdown Academy.

Most office workers today probably have more to do than they ever have before. As efficiencies are made, people have to pick up things they may have only touched on before. We all feel busy and burdened with work we may not have started out with..........

Email correspondence – Be careful what you agree to

By Grant Esterhuizen, Lester Aldridge LLP

It is generally accepted in today’s world that a contract can be created via email. However, businesses need to be aware that a strand of case law is developing which may result in certain emails being construed as a binding contract which could unwittingly commit a business, just by clicking the “send” button..........

Articles

Moving House? Planning and Packing Tips

An article by Pack and Go!

As an office professional, your time is precious and you have enough stress and strain in your day to day jobs without adding to it through a house move.

Moving house can be a trying experience but with a little forward planning, it doesn’t have to be – our removal partners 'Pack and Go!' has some timely tips.

Forward Planning

Don’t leave everything to the last minute.

Make lists of priority items and fragile or treasured possessions If moving to a new country, check out if there are any restrictions on items entering the country

Decide what can be discarded or dismantled before your moving date • make or arrange any trips to the local recycling centre/waste disposal depot in excess of seven days before move day. • send items to your local charity shop(s) • book and set up at a local car boot sale for any appropriate items • sell items on auction sites • pass-on unwanted items, admired by others, to family and friends

Spend time considering how you are going to pack your possessions.

Valuables need careful wrapping - so, allow sufficient time, and some items may need to be dismantled.

Consider speciality items/areas – such as:

• The use of self-sealing, clear plastic bags – to quickly identify items, such as nuts, bolts, screws to re-assemble items • Recycle newspapers and document shredding for lining boxes and packing materials for fragile goods • Pack ‘hazardous’ items separately, away from items that they may damage, for example bleach and clothing • Go through or clear attics, garages, garden sheds several days before moving date. • Prepare items such as washing machines and fridge freezers for moving (refer manufacturer’s instructions – many can be found on-line) • Save time and prepare items with complex cabling by clearly labelling what goes where! • Ensure you have notes of usernames and passwords for computers and your own wifi networks in case they need re-setting on reconnection.

Check that your insurances will provide cover for damage and breakages during the move Collect in keys from neighbours, friends and family for handover Check final meter readings and advise suppliers noting who you have spoken to.

Ask for advice on packing any fragile or large items, alternatively, pay a small surcharge for getting the professionals to handle those items for you.

Pack and Go!

Start early – it often takes much longer than anticipated if you are doing it all yourself – you may well get delayed by stumbling through old photographs and documents • Work room by room, one at a time, clearly labelling your boxes with original location and where it is going in your new home • Don’t over-fill boxes to the point whereby you can not lift them. • Mark boxes with fragile items • Wrap items individually, using packing materials and items that can be used for padding – such as pillows, towels and blankets • If you are using reclaimed boxes from say, the supermarket, make sure they are adequately clean and retain their strength • Suitcases can be utilised for packing clothes and similar items • Pack an “essentials” kit for your first hours in your new home – include tea/coffee, milk, sugar, plates, cups, saucers, toiletries, medications, torch, basic tool set (hammer, screwdrivers etc) • Pack important documents such as birth and marriage certificates, passports etc and keep them with you on the journey between the old and new homes • Take any particularly precious or valuable items with you – eg jewellery • Plan and arrange remaining items and boxes and decide which need to be loaded first (those being the last to be unloaded at the new home).

Unpacking and settling in your new home:

• Check fixtures and fittings are as agreed. • Report any issues to your legal representatives asap • Check meter readings and advise suppliers and make a note of who you have spoken to. • Locate your essential items and prioritise what needs to be opened first. • It’s unlikely that you will unpack everything on the first day, so identify which boxes you may need as a priority, and which can be put to one side. • Report any damage items breakages or missing items to your removal professionals

Final tip: take photos!

Snaps of fragile items, antiques etc before you move and most importantly be ready to capture any mishaps or damage at the earliest opportunity. Some recommend to take a picture of the contents of your boxes as a reminder – for example that can work wonders with identifying items quickly at the unpack location– such as those precious outfits or shoes!

For more about Pack and Go!, please click here

Don't Underestimate the Young

An article by Dr Lynda Shaw

The younger generation need to be encouraged to stay in the UK before they seek work elsewhere around the world, urges Psychologist and Age Specialist, Dr Lynda Shaw.

Western birth rates are declining, the global birth rate has dropped from 22/1000 of the population in 2000 to 19.14/1000 last year and the world is “shrinking” becoming increasingly easy to travel and more westernised. The seemingly deteriorating weather in the UK adds to the problem of students choosing to seek employment abroad. On top of this, the rise in University fees to £9,000 in the UK has opened up the economic viability of choosing universities overseas according to Dr Shaw. Already we witnessed over 50,000 fewer applicants for courses in 2012.

Dr Lynda Shaw says: “We need to act now to prevent this trend from worsening, we must hold on to the young in the UK and understanding their psychological profile can help to recognise what it is they need to keep them employed and distract them from moving abroad and taking their talents with them.

“Young people today are highly responsible and take life very seriously. They hunger for training and development, but will not hang around for long drawn out courses. They expect to learn whilst contributing to a company. It is worth noting that the developing teenage brain with all it’s pruning and reorganising hasn’t quite finished until roughly the mid 20s. This means that someone in their early 20s is still exploring their identity and may seek change in order to grow. Therefore, employers need to work even harder to engage all this wonderful new talent."

“In addition, our young workers have also been brought up watching their parents fear redundancy, governments and banks who behave both dishonestly and unethically. It’s no wonder this generation will feel no loyalty to companies, can you blame them? A good employer will recognise this and strive to earn loyalty so that employees will go that extra mile when things get tough.”

According to recent research conducted by Dr Shaw, 67% of those aged 18-24 feel more pressured than anything else to have a good career. Dr Shaw says: “We need to support and inspire the young to ensure desirability of working in the UK especially as it is a huge transitional stage moving from education to work. It is important to make the young in the workforce feel valued and respected rather than the lowest of the low within a company.”

Management style is not a ‘one size fits all’ policy, everybody is different according to Shaw, and younger members of the team need to have their opinions heard and to have training opportunities as the life blood of an organisation and shouldn’t be cast aside on the basis of less experience.

“My research identified the young desire good training, and clear career progression with 81% of those under 25 claiming to be highly ambitious. They want to feel valued and respected as part of a team, with a true ability to contribute to the organisation and not just on a continuous learning treadmill. However, despite their overwhelming ambition to succeed, it is important to ensure they do not get ahead of themselves. Where they may excel in drive and motivation, they lack in business acumen – young entrepreneurs often struggle with the concept of cash flow, savings and how to grow a business. Therefore, in understanding their wants – training, development, responsibility – businesses must apply these, thus helping to improve their all-round skill set and ability to deliver exceptional results for that sector.”

The recession has had a big impact on the availability of jobs, particularly graduate schemes that are notoriously competitive with numbers of applicants far exceeding positions available. High Fliers Research recently reported that graduates with no work experience are likely to be discounted instantly, with 36% of graduate positions going to graduates who had already gained work experience within the same company.

Shaw says: “It is vital for graduates to gain essential work experience to build their confidence and understanding of their world which they are applying to join, but also crucial for businesses to make it readily available to them. Graduates and school leavers need to be given a chance, an opportunity to prove their worth but also to be respected and challenged.”

For about Dr Lynda Shaw, please click here

Getting the best out of outsourcing at your company

An article from Moorepay - providers of cloud based HR and Payroll Solutions

A look at the three main types of outsourcing

The work outsourced often centres on non-core aspects of a firm. However, if the tasks were left in-house, an employee or manager would be stretched for time as they attempt to complete these challenges while also juggling their other work fulfilments.

Those of you who are yet to discover the benefits of outsourcing some of their work but are intrigued to do so can gain inspiration by looking at the three primary forms of the process which are widely available today.

1: Technology services outsourcing

The world is becoming a more tech-savvy place to live in with every passing day, with many people now educated on the ins and outs of using a computer and the majority of companies ensuring they are making their presence felt online.

Where the latter point is concerned though, firms could quickly lose momentum if they enlist people to handle such processes as electronic commerce, application creation, telecommunications and website development who have little or no knowledge on the subjects.

However, outsourcing these tasks to a third-party company will enable employers to receive peace of mind that their venture into the online community is being conducted by a specialist in the field.

On top of this, processes will be handled in a more cost-effective manner than hiring inexperienced employees in-house and businesses can keep up or even get ahead of their competitors quicker.

2: Business process outsourcing

Any operational function which a company hires the services of a third-party to monitor and handle falls into the category of business process outsourcing – or BPO for short.

To break it down a little bit more, BPO is split up into a pair of sub-categories – back office work and front office work.

You should be thinking about internal work processes when it comes to back office work. For example, managers who use payroll providers – such as the experience and expertise guaranteed at Moorepay – to make sure that staff members are paid exactly what they entitled to at the right time fall firmly into this group.

Meanwhile, front office BPO relates to customer-oriented work. As such, companies can use this function to handle their customer service management operations, such as through the innovative thinking and fresh techniques applied by technology and consulting corporation IBM in their customer relationship management outsourcing opportunities.

3: Knowledge process outsourcing

The final key type of outsourcing is knowledge process outsourcing, or KPO, which is where companies call for the assistance of outside parties to produce work that requires high levels of involvement from the worker.

As a result, third-party firms which provide this service are often tasked to produce advanced research on a certain topic, as well as present companies with thorough analytical data and showcase standout technical skills.

66% of people believed that age alone, regardless of qualifications and experience, could be a barrier for getting a job. When asked what age group would be preferred for hiring, 30s was ranked the most popular (40%) and over 60s was the group least likely to be hired from (49%) - not taking qualifications and experience into account.

A few examples of where KPO is usually used to great effect include pharmaceutical research and development, legal documents, content writing and database development services.

For about Moorepay, please click here

Ageing in the Workplace

A survey by Dr Lynda Shaw

With the pros and cons of an ageing population, retirement and people working longer regularly and fiercely debated in the media and political arenas, cognitive neuroscientist and age diversity specialist, Dr Lynda Shaw, conducted detailed research to find out more about people’s attitudes to ageing in the workplace.

Retirement

The majority of survey respondents said that overall, they felt happy (93%) and healthy (85%) when they were at work. When asked about retiring themselves, the majority of respondents said they would like to retire between the age of 61 and 65 (31%) although only 22% believed this would actually become reality with 38% saying 66-70 years old was a more likely estimate.

Only 3% of people said they would wish to retire under 50 years old, although none of these said they thought it would actually happen. By comparison 16% of the respondent’s mothers and 28% of their fathers retired between 61-65 years old; with 53% of the mothers retiring before 61 years old.

When asked what they most associate retirement with, the majority of answers selected positive attributes such as having more time to see family and friends (63%), an active lifestyle (52%), more holidays (44%), less stress (40%) and a better lifestyle (31%). The biggest negative associate with retirement was money issues (37%).

86% of survey respondents said they did not think people should be forced to retire at a certain age by law; and said they felt the most important reason why over 60s generally continue to work is to increase their pension fund (43%), rather than for the love of their job (21%).

Importance of Age in the Workplace

When asked how important specific age groups are in the workplace, survey respondents ranked over 60s as the least important (46%) and 40s (27%) as the most important.

Shaw says: “People’s attitudes assume that the mature workforce is least important, however they are extremely valuable! Over 60s are bursting with knowledge and experience. This needs to be embraced, enhanced and utilised. Businesses can really benefit from an age diverse workplace, mixing the new ideas and knowledge of younger workers with the experience and expertise of older workers.”

Mature job seeking

Attitudes in the Workplace

70% of people thought that over 60s would be intimidated by advanced technology in the workplace.

When asked about attitudes and attributes in the workplace, survey respondents believed that over 60s would most beneficially contribute a better work ethic (69%) and a hard-working attitude (65%) to a workforce in a greater way than people in their 30s. Respondents said that they thought the biggest downside to employing people over 60 was that they would be slower to learn new skills (61%) and more adverse to operational changes (52%).

Shaw points out: “Older employees might be slower to learn, but they are incredibly eager to try new things and develop. If employees spent some training time older as well as younger cohorts, they would reap a greater return for their investment.”

When asked which characteristic was most associated with specific age groups at work, 20s were characterised most highly as being energetic (44%), 30s as ambitious (52%), 40s as hard-working (60%), 50s (44%)and 60s (33%) were both considered loyal, as their most creditable characteristic.

Negative traits most associated with each age group were undisciplined for 20s (a staggering 87% of respondents selected this), argumentative for 30s (17%), erratic moods for 40s (14%), anxious for 50s (19%) and lacking ambition (53%) for 60s.

Shaw argues: “There is still stigma around growing old and a mature workforce. The results of this survey have shown mixed responses about attitudes towards age in the work place. Although over 60s were considered the least likely to be hired, they were attributed with many characteristics in the work place including loyalty, having a better work ethic and a hard-working attitude. Conversely, although the youngest age groups, 20s and 30s, were considered energetic, ambitious and a popular age group to hire, they were also associated with negative traits such as being undisciplined and argumentative.

Ageing generally

According to survey results, the biggest fear among our survey respondents would be loss of memory (62%) over loss of mobility (49%) and loss of income (14%); but 86% of respondents said they did not expect to be looked after by relatives when they grow older.

For about Dr Lynda Shaw, please click here

Solid Event Management Skills are a must for any PA

Claire Derrick, Director of Education at Ashdown Academy

This is especially true as budgets are still so tight. Even larger organisations are more often than not seeking to use in-house skills to organise activities like events and conferences, rather than using external suppliers. No matter that the AGM or annual conference still needs to have the WOW factor, be perfect or better than ever before. This time it lands at the door of the internal team.

And by internal team, quite often this means the CEOs PA! Now, there’s no doubting that any good PA is already a bit of a master at events. They are natural organisers, and adept at behind the scenes efficiency. Seemingly making the impossible happen is what being a PA is all about.

But large-scale events may be a little different. Chances are that experienced PAs will get through organising an overseas conference or company-wide away day. But there is an opportunity here to not only impress your senior colleagues, but also add something to your own career. Rather than see events as just an added part of your role, there is the chance to develop some real expertise in this area that will stand you in good stead elsewhere.

Why expand in this direction? Simply, it offers some excellent opportunities, entry into an exciting industry and builds on the skills every PA and EA already has. This year has already seen some world-class events happen here in the UK, from the Royal Wedding through to the Paralympics closing ceremony. Learning what goes into large-scale events like this can help improve the ones undertaken in-house. Rather than just ‘getting through’ a large event, with a bit of training PAs and EAs can help their business lead the way.

So where to look? Many courses don’t have to mean time out of the office – they can be undertaken in evening classes once or twice a week. But there are some things that every PA should consider before signing on the dotted line. Firstly, does the course have any accreditation, which undoubtedly adds value to a CV and better recognition. Secondly, ensure any course has ‘live’ and real-life opportunities to practice events organising skills. The whole point is not to just understand how events are run within your business, it’s about improving on this by experiencing how things are run elsewhere, in different situations. This may mean a brief placement with an established events consultancy to get some hands-on experience, but the opportunities to learn are everywhere. From a friend’s wedding to a local charity event, get stuck in and use every opportunity to build your experience.

The final point is something every good PA has anyway; their little black book of contacts. Add an events element to this. Not just the ones on the company supplier list; add you own venue contacts, entertainment artists or expert design and printers. You can build a list of everything you need to run a different event with real purpose and impact.

And who knows. If all goes well, you may find you become the go-to person for tackling events in the business, and take your career in a whole new direction. As budgets slowly return, organisations will once again be looking for more dedicated and named events organisers. That could be you.

For further details about the the courses that EventCourse offer, please click here or call 020 7183 5129

Add the website to your browser's favorites

Search

All active ads

pa-assist

My Desk

My Space

Invite a friend

Editorial Features